North Carolina, Cal’s opening opponent, hit by NCAA violations

Junior Nathan Elliott, who threw for 926 yards and 10 touchdowns last year, will likely be North Carolina’s starter.

Photo: Gerry Broome / Associated Press

Cal’s season-opening opponent, North Carolina, announced Monday that 13 players will be suspended for portions of the season because of NCAA violations involving the sale of the team-issued shoes.

Among the 11 players ineligible for the Tar Heels’ game in Berkeley on Sept. 1 is quarterback Chazz Surratt, who completed 58 percent of his passes last season for 1,342 yards and eight touchdowns. He threw for 161 yards and rushed for 66 yards in a two-touchdown (one passing, one rushing) relief effort against Cal last year in a game the Bears won 35-30.

North Carolina’s starting quarterback now likely will be junior Nathan Elliott, who threw for 926 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions last season.

Projected starters Malik Carney and Tomon Fox are expected to play against the Bears and will have their four-game suspensions staggered later in the season, because the defensive ends are two of the three players facing suspension from the same position group.

“I am certainly upset by our players’ actions and how their choices reflect on them, our program and the university,” UNC head coach Larry Fedora said in a statement. “These young men knew the rules and are being held responsible for the poor choices they have made. Accountability is an important core principle in this program. We will learn from this and aim to do better in the future.”

Getting to know you: During the first week of training camp, Cal head coach Justin Wilcox called the team together, pointed at No. 37 in white and asked senior tight end Ray Hudson to recite the player’s name, position and hometown.

Hudson knew only that Joseph Ogunbanjo was a linebacker from Texas, but blanked on his name.

“That sparked a good amount of conversation in the locker room,” Hudson said. “People are getting to know the freshmen a lot quicker. Usually, it’s a process and you get to know them during camp.”

Wilcox has had position groups present reports on chapters of the “Traveler’s Gift” in front of their teammates and asked individual players to tell the stories of why they play football and how they ended up in Berkeley as a means to drive camaraderie and accountability.

“When I came in, I came into a receiver room that had Darius Powe, Bryce Treggs, Stephen Anderson and Richard Rodgers,” said Hudson, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility in January after missing the 2013 and ’17 seasons because of injury. “I was a little, scrawny kid, but they took me under their wings and taught me everything they knew. That’s something I want to give back.”

Briefly: Receiver Vic Wharton III missed Monday’s practice because of a personal issue, but Wilcox expects him back soon. … Moe Ways, a grad-transfer receiver from Michigan, said one of his favorite Jim Harbaugh stories is that the head coach would equate training camp to the birth of a child. “It’s a new beginning, a new life coming into the world, a new opportunity for guys to play,” Ways said. … It’s taking some getting used to, seeing Cal’s defensive players in white practice jerseys and the offensive players in blue. Count 320-pound left tackle Patrick Mekari among the proponents of the change, because of the blue jerseys’ “slimming” properties.

Rusty Simmons has worked at the San Francisco Chronicle as a reporter since 2002, when he moved to the Bay Area from Texas — via Washington, D.C., Seattle and Germany. He covered prep sports and then Cal football and basketball before assuming the Golden State Warriors beat in 2009. Along with regularly breaking news and putting creative spins on big-issue stories within the Cal athletics beat, Rusty spends his offseasons writing human-interest features on the Bay Area sports landscape.